Hyperdimensional Universe: I have Three Thousand Ultimate Talents - Chapter 451

Chapter 451: Chapter 276: The Ascension Trap, Master Goes Mad_1

Jiang Ming carefully discerned.

Ran Xin, Luo Qingchen, Wang Qiutong, Shi Lei, and the others’ causality lines were crystal clear, not one had disappeared, indicating that none had fallen during the trial.

This was a good situation.

However, the vast majority were too far away.

The closest was a slightly familiar causality line, belonging to the master he had met in the Nine Domains Secret Realm World.

Jiang Ming remained still, sensing the operation of the rules of this world and found them consistent with the Ten Thousand Realms Battlefield; there was no need to adapt to control the power of the rules here.

He rose into the air to above the Nine Heavens, looking in all directions, observing the vast sky, undulating mountains, his figure flickering slightly as he followed the causality lines.

In Cloud Sun City, above the third floor of All Under Heaven Bookstore, there was a pavilion where an elder with white hair and beard lay leisurely swaying on a wicker chair.

Suddenly, the elder’s half-closed eyes shot open, and he saw Jiang Ming arriving.

He was slightly taken aback before smiling, “Jiang Ming, you’ve come here too.” “Master!” Jiang Ming bowed and then sat opposite him, eager to ask, “After you broke through World Imprisonment and ascended, did you come straight to this place?”

“Yes!” the master nodded, slightly lost in the memory of that time.

“Have you seen them?” Jiang Ming pressed on.

Sigh…

The master sighed deeply, clearly aware of whom Jiang Ming was asking about. Jiang Ming’s heart sank.

“They’re all dead!” After a while, the master finally spoke.

“All dead?” Jiang Ming frowned, “Impossible, with the Academy Senior Brother’s cultivation level, even if the others died, he should have been able to survive.”

The master shook his head slightly and began recounting the past.

Back then, after the calamity of the Nine Domains Secret Realm had ended and not long after Jiang Ming and the others had left, he broke through World Imprisonment and ascended.

Ascension, that was supposed to symbolize becoming an immortal.

Even with the master’s composure, the excitement was faint, but after ascending, he had arrived in a valley.

There were no wondrous flowers or herbs, no enchanting immortal lights, no peaceful immortal realm, no carefree immortal ways, only suppression.

Yes, suppression!” the master’s eyes flashed with cold intensity, “I was very surprised, extremely surprised. There was one ascender before me whom I didn’t recognize, but witnessed being killed in resistance. When I appeared, a team tried to trap me with formations, of course, I resisted. Thankfully, I had accumulated enough strength; caught in a dire situation, I broke through two realms in succession, and only then did I barely escape.”

“They hunt ascenders specifically?” Jiang Ming was both surprised and shocked.

“You don’t know?” the master said in realization, “You truly aren’t from this world. In search of you, I have nearly traveled through these immeasurable mountains and rivers without any news of you. In the end, I settled here, comprehending the Tao, but also idly passing the remainder of my life.” “Passing the remainder of your life? You’re really pessimistic!” Jiang Ming showed unexplainable emotion.

’Sigh!” the master heaved another gloomy sigh, “After escaping back then, I bolstered my cultivation and went to the ascension site to guide the later ’ ascenders. Alas, I only saw Jun Mo being killed. At that moment, I was mad with hatred and slaughtered all the powerful in the valley.”

“In the years that followed, I came to understand that in this vast world, there are a total of one hundred and eight ascension platforms. Anyone ascending from a lesser world would be drawn to one of these platforms, then captured to become slaves, or killed outright!”

For some reason, the Great Qian Dynasty abhors ascenders.”

“As soon as they are discovered, they are captured for soul enslavement; if not capturable, they are simply exterminated!”

“In my quest to find the successors, I comprehended the way of Cause and Effect and devised methods of divi-ation among other supreme skills, but to discover that Jun Mo, Ye Hongyu, and others… all had died!”

“After a hundred years of secluded searching, all I found were withered bones and lost souls; I didn’t rescue a single one!”

“Disheartened and apathetic, I secluded myself here to comprehend the profound methods of the Tao, while also accumulating strength, waiting for the day when I storm into the Holy City and pluck the so-called Holy Master’s head!”

At that last sentence, the fleeting murderous intent from the master left even Jiang Ming feeling shocked and apprehensive.

Clearly, this master was truly consumed by hatred.

With much difficulty, he had ascended, thinking that from then on he could wander the world at will, only to end up in the midst of the Demon Realm.

He hadn’t even managed to save any of his beloved disciples.

It caused his usually tranquil heart to stir up towering waves.

“Shanshan and the others… They’re all dead?” Jiang Ming flashed a look of deep regret.

His eyes dark and profound, he activated the Eye of Heavenly Mandate and the laws of Cause and Effect, seeing the many lines of causality and sensing many familiar auras in the vast cosmos.

But none of them belonged to Shanshan and her group.

A sigh arose in his heart.

For a moment, there was a pain.

A surge of resentful qi rose in his chest, and the murderous intent hidden deep within suddenly boiled over.

“Master, have you been here for a hundred years?” Jiang Ming forced himself to calm down and asked.

“Yes!” The Master nodded, “For a long hundred years. Could it be that your time is different from mine?”

Different!” Jiang Ming then recounted everything about the Warzone of Ten Thousand Tribes, the Cosmic Starry Sky, and the Genius War without any concealment.

No detail was left hidden.

“This…” Even the Master, whose horizons had been greatly broadened, was at this moment dumbfounded.

“Cosmos, World Gate, Warzone of Ten Thousand Tribes, World of secret realms, Multi-universe, Genius War…” The Master’s lips twitched again and again.

For a time, he was somewhat bewildered.

“Divine Spirits actually exist!” The Master raised his head, his Divine Eyes seeming to peer through the limits of the universe, “All the myriad clans of the Various Heavens are but Chess Pieces! Haha, interesting, very interesting indeed, ha-ha, truly damn interesting!”

His beard bristled, and his white robe fluttered.

Eventually, his expression darkened, and his narrowed eyes shot out a ferocious gleam, “Divine Spirits, huh? I would like to see for myself, and one day, I will mold them into my chess pieces and place them on the chessboard.”

At this moment, he was the embodiment of madness, filled with the bold aspiration to command even the sun and moon to change the sky.

After a while, he became calm again.

Jiang Ming asked again, “Master, based on your investigations, aside from those who ascended from our world, are the other ascenders from various smaller worlds?”

The Master nodded, “They come from many worlds, the creatures are diverse, but all meet the same end.”

Jiang Ming’s heart sank.

Again, he activated the Eye of Heavenly Mandate, his gaze extending beyond the horizon as he pushed his deductions to the limit, but ultimately to no avail.

Jin Yinhua from the Nine Yin and Nine Yang World, the Ninth Princess Yan Feng, not there.

Yan Hongyi from the Tianxuan World, and so on, also not there.

Alas…

Jiang Ming let out a forlorn sigh.

Based on the situation in the World of secret realms, after ascension and breaking free from one’s own destined imprisonment, it’s likely they would all end up here, yet except for the Master, none were present.

The only possibility left was: Death!

“What a Great Qian Dynasty!”

“What a game of Divine Chess!”

The edge in Jiang Ming’s eyes revealed a destructive intent potent enough to demolish heavens and earth, his surging power deeply moving the Master.

After regaining his composure slightly, he picked up the teacup, took a sip, and slowly said, “Master, could you tell me more about this world?”

“Sure!”